The Colors of Life
by NotThatIWillEverWriteIt
Summary: Aomine draped his arm over the guy's shoulder familiarly and ruffled his light hair like he had petted the dogs. The guy frowned a little and buckled under Aomine's weight. "Bakagami, meet your new tutor," he said with a smirk, "Kuroko Tetsuya." [Gollege AU, blind character, dyslexia]
1. Chapter 1

A little bell chimed above Kagami when he pushed the café door open, and the sight that opened in front of his eyes could only be described as his worst nightmare.

A roomful of dogs.

All kinds of dogs you could imagine. From small dogs with tails between their trembling legs to big ones you could ride to war. Long-haired dogs that looked like their fur will tangle if you even looked at their direction. Dogs with fancy looking trims and dogs whose fur shone in the light. Little chubby dogs with stubby legs. Giant dogs with long skinny legs. War dogs with paws of the size of a dinner plate.

They all roamed the big room freely. Here and there, were people sitting at tables drinking coffee or on the floor propped up by heaps of pillows petting and playing with the beasts.

Kagami stood frozen in the doorway, and his suddenly sweaty hand clutched on the leather shoulder-strap of his bag. Hazily his brain tried to remember that one late-night document he had watched about dangerous animals. The pretentious-sounding British narrator had said something about looking at the beasts in the eyes, but Kagami couldn't remember if you should or should not do it.

Something solid bumped against his back, but he barely noticed.

"Oi, Bakagami!" Aomine's annoyed voice came somewhere distant behind him. "Don't just stand there."

"What's this place?"

"Dog café."

"What's going on? Why are we standing here?"

The top of Momoi's head peeked behind Aomine's broad shoulder as she tried to reach out to see what was holding up their line.

"Oi, Kagami!"

Aomine gave Kagami's back a sharp nudge, but his feet were rooted just over the threshold. Not even Aomine managed to budge him. At this point, the Kagami-sized plug at the doorway had started to attract attention – both of the customers and the dogs.

A pair of chunky nails scraped against the floor as one of them, a big golden one, trotted over to them. Its heavy tail, as thick as Kagami's wrist, swayed in the air like a flag, and its broad tongue hung over the giant teeth.

Kagami took an instinctive step back only to crash against Aomine who was taken by surprise and accidentally knocked into Momoi.

"The hell, Kagami?!"

All he registered was the golden beast getting closer and closer, its black eyes nailed on him.

Shit, what if he was accidentally challenging it for a fight by looking at it. Should he distract it somehow? Maybe he could push Aomine in front of him and make his escape while the beast chewed on his flesh?

Just as the dog was about to reach Kagami and according to Kagami's plan, get kicked in the snout, someone grabbed its collar that was buried into the thick golden fur. A young petite waitress with short brown hair. She was wearing a bright green apron with a picture of a cup and paws printed on it. Under it read "B&P" in curvy letters.

"Taro, sit," she said with a firm voice.

Immediately the dog's butt was planted on the floor, and it looked up at her. She patted the top of the golden head.

"Welcome to Beans & Paws!" she greeted them cheerfully. "Table for three? Or would you like to sit on the floor?"

"Take that thing away from me," Kagami muttered between tight lips and glared at the dog sitting obediently, its eyes still nailed on the waitress.

Her smile faltered a little.

"Excuse me?"

"Keep it away from me."

Momoi wiggled her way through the narrow gap that was left between two full-sized basketball players and the doorframe.

"Sorry about him," she said with her trademarked smile, sweet as sugar glaze. "Table for three, please. And would it possible to get it somewhere without the dogs?"

The waitress' eyebrow arched.

"You do know this a dog café, right?"

"Our friend here just needs a bit of time to get used to them."

Momoi nodded at Kagami behind her. The waitress glanced at him, still having a one-sided staring contest with the golden dog sitting between her legs. For a while, she looked like she wanted to refuse them but finally shrugged.

"Fine. I'll clear up some space for you. Taro, c'mon."

She tapped her thigh lightly, and the dog's floppy ears perked up. Quickly it bounced on his feet and followed the waitress glued to her thigh.

"I can't believe you're afraid of dogs," Aomine sneered, still stuck behind Kagami.

"Shut up. I'm not."

Momoi picked up a small dog that had come to greet them and hugged it close to her chest. A little pink tongue darted out to lap her cheek and sniff at her face. The long curly hair of the dog reminded Kagami of a mop they used to clean the gym's floors after practice.

"Aww, how can you be scared of something this cute? Just look at this adorable face!"

She held out the little beast, and its tiny paws tangled in the air as it was trying to get close enough to sniff Kagami's face. Automatically, he recoiled, earning a painful punch from Aomine on his back.

"I'm not scared. I just don't like them."

"Who doesn't like dogs? They're dogs," Aomine said. "Man's best friends."

"It'd sure take an animal to be best friends with you," Kagami muttered.

"I wonder how many of these dogs are better at basketball than you. Maybe we should ask that waitress to train you, too."

Kagami's elbow shot back, but Aomine dodged it nimbly.

"Woof, woof, Inuga!"

Ready to wipe off the smug grin on Aomine's face, Kagami was about to swirl around but tensed up again when the waitress came back, the huge golden dog still at her heel.

"I fenced you a corner over there," she said and pointed over her shoulder.

Kagami secretly utilized Aomine's wide frame to plow through the panic-inducing abundance of dogs as they made their way across the busy café. There was a pen-like area in the corner prepared just for them. People cast curious glances at them, and Kagami hoped to shrink to someone normal-sized. It was awkward being in a pen. Like he was the dog.

The waitress whipped out a small pad, and in no time, Aomine was sipping a steaming cup of black coffee, Kagami slurping his iced coffee through a straw and Momoi licking off the whipped cream of the long, thin spoon of her Frappuccino.

The fence was low, and a couple of the dogs came sniffing through the holes and leaned on the shaky structure to get a better look at the newcomers. Momoi reached over the edge to scratch the top of their heads.

"Couldn't we have met anywhere else?"

"I told you, Kuroko works here, so it's easier."

"Don't tell me he's a dog lover, too."

"He actually owns one. Here, look," Momoi said and shoved her phone in Kagami's face. "He's so cute!"

On the screen, Kagami made out a furry mountain of black and white with a pair of pointy ears and pale blue eyes.

He swallowed.

"How big is that thing?"

"Big enough," Aomine said with a sly smirk. "If you mess with Tetsu, he'll sick him on your balls."

"Dai-chan!" Momoi swatted at Aomine. "Don't worry, Kuma is a gentle giant."

Full of doubts, Kagami glanced at the picture and sighed.

"Why does Matsumoto have to be such a hardass? I swear he's not letting me pass on purpose."

Momoi and Aomine switched glances over the pink elephant in the room while Kagami was slurping on his drink noisily and glaring outside the window. They both knew the literature professor wasn't the reason why he was having such a hard time passing the mandatory liberal arts classes.

Both him and Aomine were riding a full basketball scholarship which required them to maintain a certain GPA. No one had expected Kagami to be a good student but how much he was struggling had surprised even Momoi and Aomine. From the beginning, his poor grades had started to threaten to lower his GPA but by some miracle – and Momoi's intensive tutoring – he had muddled through his freshmen's finals. Now, though, he was a sophomore and faced the last mandatory literature class taught by a professor who was known to be strict. According to the rules, Kagami needed to pass all his mandatory classed to participate in the official games.

When Kagami had asked Momoi to tutor him again, she had been more than hesitant to agree. While tutoring Kagami, she had discovered the possible reason for his poor grades: he had serious troubles with reading. He was frustratingly slow and struggled to understand what he had just read. He made a lot of mistakes but when Momoi interrupted to correct them he got increasingly impatient and testy. Soon, it had dawned on her just how much in over her head she was.

For days, she had wanted to come up with some excuse to get out of helping him and suffered from a guilty conscious at the same time. Of course, she wanted to help her friend but dreaded to be stuck with him in the library again, struggling to not make him feel stupid.

To her surprise, it had been Aomine who had suggested asking Kuroko to help, and she wondered why she hadn't thought of it before.

"Don't worry, Kuroko's actually majoring in literature, so I'm sure he'll be able to help you out. Just," Momoi paused to think, "just give it some time. He has his own way of doing things."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"He's not gonna let you off as easily as Satsuki," Aomine said and grinned at the mop of a dog chasing his hand, trying to gnaw on his fingers. "He's really stubborn and you can't fool him with half-assing effort."

"It's just one class. I don't need any of this stuff to play basketball, anyway."

Aomine straightened himself up and took a heavy look at Kagami biting on his straw like a petulant child.

"I guess I can tell the coach to move someone up to the first string since you can't get over yourself to pass one damn class."

Kagami glared at Aomine.

"I'm trying, ain't I?"

"You're whining. There's a difference."

"This coming from a guy who bitched and whined for years for the stupidest reasons."

"At least I can read without moving my lips."

Kagami's shoulders tensed, and Momoi kicked Aomine's shin under the table. The chair scraped against the floor when Kagami stood up.

"Kagamin…"

"I'm gonna go take a piss."

He buried his balled fists deep into his pockets and stepped over the low fence with one giant leap. But in his embarrassed and angry haste, he didn't notice the small white dog lying next to the pen. The room was pierced by a heartbreaking yelp of pain when a fluffy tail was accidentally smushed under Kagami's heavy basketball shoe.

Startled, he quickly took a step aside only to bump into someone. All he could see out of the corner of his eye was a top of hair before the poor soul was sent stumbling down with a clatter. Sprawled on the floor was a young guy with light hair, and next to him stood a giant dog, wearing a weird harness-looking thing and anxiously sniffing and licking the guy's face.

"Tetsu-kun!" Momoi shrieked and rushed over. She pushed the dog aside and helped the guy sit up. "Are you alright?"

"Momoi-san?"

The guy had a soft voice. It sounded like a string of milk slowly swirling and blending into black coffee in the morning. The small, barely noticeable smile that went with the voice was as gentle as the whipped cream of Momoi's Frappuccino topped with sprinkles of cocoa powder.

_Oh_, Kagami found himself thinking. _Cute_.

"Sorry. You okay?"

He offered the guy his hand to help him on his feet while hesitantly keeping an eye on the giant dog. The guy turned to look at him, and passingly Kagami took notice of the strikingly pale blue eyes that seemed to be of the same softness as his voice and smile – only they were weirdly, eerily soft.

_Really cute._

He kept smiling but ignored Kagami's outreached hand and looked somewhere over his shoulder.

"I'm fine, don't worry. Sorry about bumping into you like that."

Kagami frowned. "No, I – "

Aomine brushed past him standing there, holding out his hand and feeling like an idiot.

"C'mon, don't just sit there."

He grabbed the guy's arm and with one swift pull, hoisted him on his feet. He even went as far as brushing the guy's clothes off and picking up the dog's leash for him. He was surprisingly short, especially standing next to Aomine.

"There ya go."

"Thank you, Aomine-kun."

The waitress from before came over carrying a tray full of empty cups and frowned at the scene.

"Kuroko? What happened?"

"It's fine, Riko. I just stumbled a little."

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," he said and tightened his hold on the dog's leash. "You should check on Shiro. I think I heard her cry just now."

Heat crawled up to warm Kagami's face. "I think I stepped on someone's tail."

The waitress glared at him and walked off muttering something about animal abuse.

Aomine draped his arm over the guy's shoulder familiarly and ruffled his light hair like he had petted the dogs. The guy frowned a little and buckled under Aomine's weight.

"Bakagami, meet your new tutor," he said with a smirk, "Kuroko Tetsuya."

**~~oOo~~**

The late spring cherry blossoms had colored everything with pale pink. Heaps of soft petals covering the sidewalk muffled the steps of two pairs of shoes and four furry paws. Kagami's long legs felt awkward and clumsy as he was trying to adjust to Kuroko's slower pace. To his surprise, Kuroko moved around quite easily despite…everything.

"Thank you again for walking me home, Kagami-kun."

"Taiga's fine."

"Oh? Are you sure?"

"I never got used to people calling me by my last name."

"Got used to?"

"My father's American, and I lived over there with him for years."

"That's amazing. Your Japanese is so fluent, though."

Kagami hunched his shoulders and let his shoes scrape against the asphalt.

"My mother was Japanese. She never spoke English to me."

"Well, you can call me Tetsu if you want. And this here is Kuma."

Kagami let out a strangled voice when the giant dog perked up at the mention of his name. Thankfully Kuroko was walking him on the other side of the narrow sidewalk. Despite the enormous size, the dog seemed obedient and not really interested in Kagami.

"Don't you like dogs, Kaga – Taiga?"

"Did Aomine tell you that?"

Kuroko smiled a little.

"He's told many things about you, but no, I figured that on my own. You can learn quite a lot even if you can't see."

An awkward silence fell between them. Kagami let his eyes wander the abundance of pale pink everywhere. After causing such a scene in the café, the waitress with a sour face had suggested maybe they were better off somewhere else. Before Kagami had realized words were coming out of his mouth, he had asked to walk Kuroko home. He had crashed into the guy. The least he could do was to make sure he hadn't sustained some internal injuries or anything.

"Momoi-san told me you need help with a literature class?"

"I don't need help. The professor just hates me because I'm on a sports scholarship."

"I doubt that's the case. Matsumoto-sensei can be strict, but you need to apply yourself."

Kagami scoffed.

"He's a hardass and looks like a monkey."

"That's not very nice, Taiga."

"Well, he does."

"Tell me about the assignment."

"I need to read a book and write a paper about it."

"Can you pick any book you want?"

"I guess so, yeah."

"Have you picked anything yet?"

The professor had provided a list of novels with the assignment in case students couldn't come up with a book of their own. Kagami had searched all of them and picked the shortest one.

When Kuroko heard the title of his book, he shook his head.

"I'm afraid you won't enjoy that book."

Kagami frowned and glanced at him.

"Why not?"

"It's not written for you."

"You mean I'm too stupid to get it?"

"No, but I guarantee you won't like it."

"And you magically just know that?"

"Of course, not. There's a very simple way of telling. In the past week, how many pages have you made progress?"

Kagami pursed his lips.

"Nil."

"Reading is a matter of finding the right book for the job, and what you've chosen isn't right at all."

"But it was on the list!"

"I'm sure it could be a perfect fit for someone else."

Kagami pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to wish the beginning headache away. The guy was cute, but he was starting to see what Momoi had meant with needing to be patient with him.

"What then? I need something. And let me tell you right now, I'm not gonna read anything brick-sized."

Kuroko turned to give Kagami his barely-there, whipped cream smile, and Kagami's heart gave a little involuntary skip.

"Don't worry, I think I have a perfect book for you. Meet me at the city library tomorrow at nine."

**~~oOo~~**

Momoi shivered in the cool late evening and tucked Aomine's jacket tighter around herself.

"Next time you want to take the scenic route home, how about making sure you've got enough clothes," Aomine grumbled, his shoulders hunched and hands buried deep into the pockets of his jeans.

"But it's so pretty in the park."

"You've seen the flowers countless of times. What's so special about them anymore?"

Momoi smiled to herself and sneaked her arm in Aomine's, effectively slowing down his stride to fit her shorter steps.

"Some things are always special."

Aomine grunted but didn't resist when Momoi cuddled up to his side. He could feel her softness pressing against his arm through the jacket. At least some parts of him were starting to warm up.

"You think they'll be fine?"

"Who? Tetsu and Kagami?"

"Yeah."

"Why wouldn't they? I'm sure Tetsu can make that idiot pass one measly assignment."

"I worry about him sometimes. Kagamin."

"Idiots always make it somehow."

Momoi sighed.

"Maybe you're right. Just look at you. Despite everything, you turned out pretty okay."

"Oi!"

Aomine glared at her.

"Don't worry, I like you anyways," she sing-songed and reached up on her tippy-toes to sneak a quick kiss on his cheek. "You wanna come over tonight?"

"Yeah," he muttered, trying to hide the tint of his cheeks by being suddenly interested in the cherry blossoms.


	2. Chapter 2

It was nearly 10 o'clock when Kagami finally reached the city library, sweaty and wheezing. Kuroko was standing by the main entrance, under the big clock just like they had agreed. Kuma sat stoically at his feet like a guardian out of some fantasy movie.

"Mornin'," Kagami said, trying to sound like he hadn't just sprinted all the way from home.

Kuroko's brows knotted at the sound of his voice, and the softness of his eyes was dimmed by the shadow of a dark glare.

"You're late."

"Only a little."

Kuroko dug out his phone, held it out in front of Kagami's face and pushed a little button on the side. An automatic, synthetic-sounding female voice announced the current time: 09:52 AM.

Of course.

"Sorry, I missed the bus."

"Don't you live near Aomine-kun's place?"

"Well – "

"So, about 15 minutes by walking?"

"But – "

"If you want my help, you have to do better than this. Otherwise, we're just wasting both of our time."

Kagami's shoulders slumped under the scolding, and he stared at the ground awkwardly. For such a soft-looking guy, Kuroko sure seemed to possess surprising cold frankness in his tone when needed.

"Sorry. I couldn't sleep last night and then didn't wake up when the alarm went off."

"Let's just get going. We're late."

Kuroko fixed his hold on Kuma's leash, and the dog perked up.

"Kuma, find the door."

The dog's furry side never stopped brushing against Kuroko's thigh as he guided him in the right direction. Silently, Kagami followed the pair through the sliding doors.

The most he had ever really paid attention to the giant library building that took up a whole block was to check the time on the big clock over the main entrance on his way to wherever he was already late. From the outside, it was a surprisingly plain building. A grey-white, solid block with square windows.

From the inside, a world of warm colors, soft lights, mysterious shadows, and papery smell opened in front of Kagami. It was like someone had taken a huge spoon and scooped the building hollow from the floor to the ceiling. Kagami's neck craned back when he tried to take in all the sudden open space.

The entrance hall spread out as far as his eye could see, almost looking like it went on till the end of times if he just kept walking. Here and there were little islands of couches and comfy-looking chairs with people slumped in them reading, browsing newspapers, or laptops propped on their knees. On their right, opened a sea of computer screens and people hunched over them, separated by dark grey cubicles. On the left, stretched out a long line of service desks and different machines. In the middle of the hall rose a wide staircase from the limestone floor, and Kagami counted at least three floors looming above them.

It was louder than Kagami had imagined a library to be. Keyboards were tap-tap-tapping. Printers and photocopiers beep-beep-beeping and sli-sli-sliding thin papers back and forth deep in their guts before spitting them out in neat stacks. Whatever silent gaps were left, were filled by low murmured conversations.

"Kagami-kun, please keep up," Kuroko called back to him.

He had made his way across the hall, and Kuma's front paws were already planted on the first step of the stairs that were covered by a carpet. Kagami hurried to catch up.

"Are you sure it's okay to bring Kuma inside?"

"Of course, it is. This is his job."

Kuroko moved with surprising confidence. His hand slid on the smooth railing, and Kagami could see his lips move as he counted the steps. Kuma climbed the stairs a step and a half ahead of him. The leash was taut, but he wasn't pulling. When they reached the top, Kuroko followed the railing to the left until he suddenly stopped, and Kagami almost collided with him. Again.

"It has been a while," he said with a hint of a frown. "It should be either this bump or the next. Kagami-kun, could you tell me what it says on the door. That one in the right."

He pointed straight across the wide corridor at a pair of glass doors.

"Lost and Read," Kagami read out loud.

Kuroko smiled almost fondly, and the tightness from before seemed to melt away.

"Let's go, Taiga."

Kagami pulled the door open for them and was hit by a wall of musty, almost pungent smell of paper, dust, and wooden shelves. Compared to the hustle and buzzle of downstairs, time seemed to have almost stopped in this room. Every sound – turning of pages, pens scratching against papers, creak of chairs – was muffled and whispered.

As soon as Kuroko had crossed the threshold, he made a hard right until his hands met a small cart snuggled between a service desk and a wall. NEW, read in big, thick letters over the cart. Kuma's leash was loosened as Kuroko's hands, almost impatiently, slid over the spines of various books, feeling and following the bulge of letterings. Every now and then, he frowned a little before moving on to the next book.

"Oi, you need help?" Kagami whispered, but Kuroko just hushed him quiet.

"Interesting," he gave his verdict after a while. "Quite an interesting catch."

While Kuroko was performing what Kagami only thought to be his summoning of a good book, he looked around. The room had a cozier feel to it than the lobby downstairs. The shelves that towered over him were made of some kind of golden-brown wood. The forest of them spread out like a maze, and the little entrance they were standing in was the square one. Between the rows, Kagami could make out lines of tables with little green lamps above them.

He let his eyes wander on the closest shelf and leaned to take a closer look at a pitch-black spine that stood out between the other light-shade ones. He craned his neck to make out the title and almost let out a muffled scream when a heavy hand suddenly dropped on his shoulder.

"The hell?!" he sputtered and spun around only to come inches away from a black-haired guy with exceptionally thick eyebrows.

Without uttering a word, the guy glanced at the book he had been peering at, pulled it out of the row, and offered it to him. Dumbfounded and his heart still beating in his throat, Kagami silently accepted it.

"Thanks."

"Taiga?" Kuroko called. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, just…bumped into someone."

"Again? You should really pay more attention to your surroundings. And please, keep it down, this is a library."

In a silent greeting, Eyebrows touched Kuroko's shoulder, and on some level Kagami wanted him to shriek and piss himself, too. Of course, no such luck.

"Mitobe-san? Good morning. An interesting collection in the cart."

Eyebrows nodded solemnly as if he knew what Kuroko was talking about and tapped his shoulder once.

"Still no Genji?"

Two taps.

"Too bad. Did you find the book I was talking to you about last night?"

One tap and a squeeze. Eyebrows reached for a pile of books on the table and handed Kuroko a yellow hardback. Kuroko's hand caressed the smooth cover that shone in the light. Nimble fingers explored every nook and cranny of the book; the thickness of the cover, flexibility of the binding, and coarseness of the pages. He lifted the book up to listen to the rattling of the spine and sniff at the ink.

Intrigued, Kagami watched closely the thorough inspection.

"It's in great shape. Thank you, Mitobe-san."

Eyebrows gave Kuroko's shoulder another squeeze and dropped the book in a rattling paper bag he conjured behind the counter. Also, the book Kagami was still holding was taken from his hands and added in the bag.

"You were a great help, as always."

Kuroko turned to where Kagami was standing.

"You should thank him, too, Taiga."

"Yeah, thanks," Kagami mumbled, not really knowing what he was thanking him for.

"A friend of yours?" he asked on their way back downstairs.

The paper bag he was carrying was surprisingly heavy and filled him with an odd sense of accomplishment. He found himself a bit curious to find out what was in it.

"Even better than that, he's a librarian."

"He seemed wei…quiet."

"It's fine. The books do most of the talking around here."

On the last step of the stairs, Kuroko suddenly commanded Kuma to stop. He rubbed the toe of his sneaker against the soft carpet under his feet, his light eyebrows in a contemplative frown.

"Taiga," he said, "I've always wondered, what color is this carpet?"

Kagami looked down at the floor, suddenly feeling like he had been trusted with an important task.

"Red. Kind of darkish red. Like velvet."

"Oh. Red, I see." Kuroko tasted the word on his tongue, and the clouded softness of his eyes deepened. "Red is definitely a good color for it."

He sounded like it all – whatever it was – made perfect sense to him. Kagami glanced at the carpet again. The red didn't look that special to him, but yes, he supposed it was a good color for it.

**~~oOo~~**

"When the Game Was Ours," Kagami read and frowned at the yellow book in his hands. "A basketball book?"

Kuroko crumbled the hamburger wrapper and tucked it neatly away in the Maji Burger paper bag. On their way back from the library, they had stopped to get some lunch when Kagami's stomach had reminded him he had skipped breakfast in his morning haste. It had turned out they both frequented the Maji Burger near the public basketball court Kagami and Aomine often played at.

Kuroko had suggested they had a picnic there. Their bags and Kagami's pile of cheeseburgers were sprawled on the pavement. Kagami sat cross-legged hugging a lonely basketball he had spotted under the basket. Kuroko leaned his back against the rattling fence and pressed his palm on the hard surface of the court.

"The sun is already heating the pavement," he said, looking like he was savoring the warmth of the ground. "Do you know what the book is about?"

Kagami looked at the two players on the cover in their respective uniforms – Celtics' green and Lakers' yellow. The men were pushing each other under a basket, both ready to leap, their eyes nailed on catching a rebound higher and faster than the other. He could have recognized them in any book cover.

"Larry Bird and Magic Johnson."

"I think you will find their story very interesting."

"I've already heard it."

"But have you read it?"

Skeptical, Kagami scanned the short synopsis on the back, opened the book at random pages and flicked through them. It was much thicker than he would have liked.

"You sure Matsumoto will go for this?"

"Weren't you allowed to pick your own books?"

"Well, yeah, but…this isn't exactly the same as those fancy classics on the list."

"Reading is about finding the right books for the job."

Kagami frowned.

"What does that even mean?"

"Your assignment isn't to just read a book but to have something to say about it."

Kagami's face darkened, and he glared at Kuroko over the book.

"And you don't think I'm smart enough to have anything to say about fancy things? Did Aomine say I'm an idiot who can barely read?"

Kuroko was about to slurp on his nearly finished vanilla shake but halted midway. His head tilted a little.

"I don't think it's right to shrink something like literature to just a handful of classics. Your book is worthy, too. And I'm looking forward to hearing all the smart things Taiga has to say about it."

A warm breeze tussled his light hair, and the wisps caught a couple of pink petals blown by the wind. Kagami had to almost physically restrain himself from brushing them off. Instead, he went back to fiddling with the book.

"This probably has a bunch of fancy words and stuff."

"Probably."

"It's too many pages, I'll never get this done in time."

"There's no rush. We'll make a schedule."

"Couldn't you read it to me instead? Momoi usually – " Kagami caught Kuroko's pointed look over the milkshake. "Oh, yeah. Right."

The hard, smooth cover was cool under Kagami's hand. The creases of the spine rattled almost too loud, and the smell wafting from the pages tickled his nose. Tightness settled heavy in his chest. His fingers tapped restlessly the basketball in his lap.

Being at the court made him itch to play a little.

The fence rattled suddenly when Kuroko pushed himself up. He brushed his palms on his pants leaving smudges of fine dust on the fabric. Confused, Kagami looked up from the first page at Kuroko's outreached hands in front of him. Well, slightly askew.

"Would you give me the ball, please?"

"Huh? Why?"

"I think I want to play a little."

"You can play like that?" Kagami blurted out before he could stop himself.

"Aomine-kun taught me how to dribble a little."

"Uh, sure," Kagami said and placed the ball in Kuroko's hands. "Should I – I mean, so you won't run into anything?"

"It's okay, I'm quite familiar with this place."

Kuroko slid his hand over the rubber surface of the ball and followed the black ribs with his fingertips. He gave the ball a couple of tentative bounces. His handling had a slightly different but obvious feel to it than what Kagami was used to see.

"In the meantime, why don't you read the book to Kuma? Out loud."

Kagami huffed.

"Why would I read to a dog?"

"Kuma is quite passionate about basketball. He and Aomine-kun have had many long conversations about it when they're watching games together."

Kuroko turned to face the deserted court and bounced the ball again. Kagami could not only see the difference in Kuroko's handling but he could also hear it. The ball hit the ground a bit slower, and the bounces' rhythm was off.

"Call me when you're done with the first couple of pages. I want to hear how the story starts," Kuroko said over his shoulder before walking off.

Kagami glanced at panting Kuma lying a few feet away from him. The dog's massive pile of fur had spread on the pavement, and the breeze blew the wisps of the thick tail. His ice-blue eyes were tracing Kuroko slowly walking on the court.

"Oi," Kagami said, and the pointy ears twitched to his direction. "This is gonna feel stupid as hell, so you better listen up."

He took a deep breath.

"Chapter one…"


	3. Chapter 3

When Kagami stumbled yet again on the same tricky word he had come across in the chapter several times already, Kuroko stifled his sigh and straightened up from leaning against the basketball court fence.

"We should stop for the day."

Kagami's reading trailed off.

"Huh? Why?"

"You seem distracted."

"I'm fine."

"I still think we should take a break."

"I said it's fine, so it's fine."

The story of the two basketball players continued, but Kagami's voice was monotone as he plowed through the text linearly. It didn't sound like he even started where he had left off just a moment ago. He was rushing and not paying attention to what the words meant and the story they were trying to tell him.

"Taiga," Kuroko interrupted again, "there's no point in this if you don't understand what you're reading."

"I do."

An annoyed edge.

"Then what is Larry Bird telling you about right now?"

The pages rustled, and Kuroko frowned.

"Without looking."

"No one said I was supposed to memorize this crap!"

"Of course not, but you have to understand the text."

Kagami scoffed.

"This is stupid."

The book was angrily slammed shut, and Kuroko jumped at the sudden loud noise. There was a thud as something was tossed on Kagami's bag. Heavy basketball shoes scraped the pavement when Kagami got to his feet.

"Taiga?"

His only answer was a basketball bouncing on the court. With a sigh, Kuroko leaned his back against the fence and listened to the practiced steps and the rubber of the ball hitting the rough pavement.

Kagami sounded a lot like Aomine but not quite. Kuroko could never predict what sound Aomine would make next. His favorite one was the clean, precise _ h_ of the net after a step sequence. But sometimes there was a somehow disappointing **BATANG** instead when the ball hit the backboard, followed by a circular rattle as it continued to swirl down the metallic rim. Aomine's sounds were intriguing and free but had an almost languid undertone to them.

Compared to Aomine, Kagami sounded straightforward and pure. The sole of his shoe slammed the pavement, gripping it firmly and securing his takeoff. And shortly after, the rim **R~A~N~G** almost ear-splittingly when the ball was violently smashed down through it. Kagami didn't sound like he ever held back; as if he couldn't contain the energy inside. It was about passion and power, bordering impatience and rashness.

But today Kagami sounded distant and slow. He tossed a couple of lazy baskets and let the ball's bounces diminish – quiet down and quicken – under the basket before catching it with a satisfying snap of fingers meeting the hard rubber.

Kuroko fumbled the pavement until his hands met Kagami's bag lying a couple of feet away and the book on top of it. He let the pages run freely until there was a fresh pause where the binding had been bent open forcefully. It seemed they were almost halfway through the book. The progress had been slow and reluctant but more consistent than Kuroko had anticipated.

However, the pages Kagami had been reading him today were restless. The corners had been wedged and bent, and there were a couple of small tears along the thin edges.

A cloud of puffed breaths slumped next to Kuroko, and he handed the book in its direction.

"Let's take a break for today."

"It's fine, I can still go."

"We can afford to take a break, so there's no need to push yourself."

"I'm not."

"Clearly, you are."

"Well, _clearly_ you're wrong."

The binding creaked as it was forced open, and the unenthusiastic yet hurried reading continued.

"_A player with a pel – plet – petelharo of skill that_ – "

"Could you spell that word for me?"

"What word?"

"The one that started with a P."

"_Player_?"

"No, the other one."

A hesitant pause.

"_P-L-E-T-H-O-R-A_."

"Can you sound it out after me? _Pleth-o-ra_."

"Oi," Kagami's voice dripped with darkness, "quit making me sound like I'm slow in the head."

Kuroko said nothing, and Kagami's voice resumed: "_Skill that had rarely_ – "

"Would you still sound it out for me?"

A frustrated sigh.

"It's fine, I got it already."

"Please? I really like that word."

"I'll never be done with this bullshit if I have to spell and repeat every damn word for you."

"You will never be done if you have to keep repeating the same class."

As soon as the words slipped out of his mouth, Kuroko could feel Kagami pulling back and chilly silence rushing in to fill the tear between them. Kagami had been drifting away the whole afternoon, and Kuroko should have put a stop to it earlier. Instead, he had been nudging him even further away by allowing the counter-productiveness to go on for so long. He needed to figure out a life buoy to haul him back.

"Let's take a break. I want to show you something."

Without waiting for Kagami's grumpy objections, Kuroko reached for his messenger bag leaning against the fence next to him. The zipper let out a gentle rip when Kuroko pulled it open. His hands rummaged the insides and pulled out a six-cup muffin pan and a big plastic bag with a string full of tennis balls. Kuroko wiggled to face Kagami's direction and put the pan on the pavement between them.

"Do you remember how my books have little dots instead of letters?"

"Mm."

"That's called Braille. People like me use those little dots to read. I teach a small class at the dog café every Tuesday and Friday."

"With cupcakes and tennis balls?"

"With muffins and tennis balls."

With one tug, the simple knot of the string came undone, and one by one, Kuroko placed the fuzzy felt covered balls in each of the holes of the pan.

"This arrangement is called a cell," he tapped the side of the pan, "and every cell has six dots that are numbered from one to six."

He touched the balls and counted them out loud.

"Letters and such each have a different arrangement of the dots. For example," Kuroko removed all but one of the balls, making sure it looked right from Kagami's opposite perspective, "a ball in cup number one is an A."

"And if you add another ball right under it – the cup number two – you get a B."

"Isn't it enough I'm already failing one alphabet?"

Without paying attention to Kagami's snarky remark, Kuroko removed the balls again and held out his hand.

"Give me your hand."

With a much telling sigh, Kagami's cool, slightly calloused hand came to lightly rest on his palm. A little twitch shot up Kuroko's forearm when their skin made contact.

"Close your eyes and imagine the muffin pan. Count the holes with me."

He tugged Kagami's limp hand. With a slight lag, it followed his lead as they went through each of the six cups from top to bottom, left to right.

"Now, with your eyes still closed," Kuroko placed a ball again in the top left corner, "feel out which letter this is."

Kagami fumbled the pan.

"A."

Kuroko added a ball. "How about now?"

"B," was the almost immediate answer.

There was a slight tug at the rope, and Kuroko prepared to carefully pull the life buoy back. He rummaged his bag again and pulled out a plastic board. Across it were listed the alphabet in Braille and Latin.

"Take a look at this and give me a C."

Kagami arranged the balls in the cups according to the picture, and Kuroko checked his answer. They continued this back and forth until the first ten letters of the alphabet were through. After that Kuroko gave Kagami simple, one-syllable words such as 'DAD' and 'BED' to spell with the balls.

"Can you give me a letter and time me?" Kagami said and shifted on the pavement, the book long forgotten next to him.

Kuroko quizzed him a few times and challenged Kagami to use the alphabet board and give him letters to read as well. Soon, competitiveness swept Kuroko along, and they held a little race, each arranging letters the other one gave them.

"Damn it," Kagami said after losing the third time. "One more time!"

"Let me show you what the dots really feel like."

Kuroko conjured a thin plastic box out of his bag of many things. Its contents rattled when he slid the lid open and revealed an arrangement of small rectangle plates. Each of them had a letter on, followed by its Braille counterpart. Under the plates was attached a narrow rack.

"Looks like Scrabble," Kagami said.

"Try how A and B feel."

The pieces rattled when Kagami picked them to the rack.

"They're really tiny."

"Can you tell them apart by feel?"

"Yeah, but barely."

"Try spelling something. How about 'Taiga'?"

Kuroko listened to the careful selection of plates until the box poked his hand.

"Done."

He felt the dots and held out his hand again.

"Close your eyes. This is what your name feels like to me."

He took a firm hold of Kagami's index finger and pressed it against the little bumps of the first letter. One by one, he slid the finger over the plates.

"T-A-I-G-A. Now, you do it."

Kuroko released the hand, and a bit clumsily the finger started to trace over the letters again from the beginning.

"Can you read it?"

"T…A, that's an A. I and…G. And A again."

Kagami huffed out a little triumphant smile. The plates rattled.

"I can read it! T-A-I-G-A. I can make them out!"

Contagious, Kagami's joy tugged the corners of Kuroko's mouth, too.

"And you didn't fail at anything."

The joy faded out in Kagami's voice.

"Yeah, well, I'm failing everything else than bouncing a rubber ball."

"People are good at different things."

"Tell that to Matsumoto."

"Struggling with something only means you have to try harder."

"And answering everything with something profound is really annoying."

Kagami let out a deep sigh. The fence jingled and dipped next to Kuroko as he settled to lean against it.

"I just really want to play."

Instead of the impatient and frustrated edge, there was an audible longing in Kagami's voice. Kuroko felt both sorry for him but also guilty. As if he was causing Kagami such anguish by keeping him from what he loved and forcing him to tediously focus on his failures and weaknesses.

He had aimed to inspire self-confidence in Kagami, but it was truly a fine line to thread. All it took was one misstep to wreck the precious progress they had made.

Kuroko fumbled for the muffin pan and picked up one the tennis balls to absentmindedly feel around.

"Don't you think it's quite ironic that I chose to study literature despite not being able to see?"

The frank question must have taken Kagami by surprise, and he blurted out an honest answer: "Yeah."

"People might wonder what the point of it all is. I will never be able to read most of the books others have access to or understand the stories the same as sighted people."

"I guess."

Kagami sounded like wanted to change the topic.

"Did your mother read to you when you were little?"

It took a while before Kagami answered, and the silence grew deeper and deeper by every passing second.

"Yeah, she did," he finally said, his voice a bit gruff.

"Did you have a favorite story?"

"I think there was one about a fox. There always was a fox somewhere."

"Did you enjoy the stories?"

The fence quivered when Kagami shrugged.

"I don't remember them much."

"My mother read to me a lot, but I always hated it."

"Shouldn't you have loved that kinda stuff?"

Kuroko fiddled with the tennis ball. The nape of the felt was rough almost to the point of uncomfortable under his fingers.

"The stories always had little confusing parts that I couldn't understand. Like red, bright, and old. And when I asked mother what they meant, she always got quiet and sad, and that only confused me more. I thought I had done something wrong."

The background silence was filled with Kagami twiddling with the little box of alphabets. The plastic plates jangled jarringly, and Kuroko almost wanted to tell him to stop. Instead, he traced the narrow seam that slowly curved around the ball. It offered some relief from the coarse fuzz.

"My favorite story is Velveteen Rabbit. Do you know it?"

"No."

"It's about a stuffed velveteen rabbit that wants to become real. When mother read it to me, she had gotten a small piece of fabric. And when the book said the rabbit was made of velveteen, mother told me that's what he felt like."

The rattling ceased, and freedom from the noise caressed Kuroko's eardrums.

"That's pretty clever."

"She was always very resourceful."

"I guess she kinda had to."

"I suppose. But without that I don't think I ever would have gotten interested in literature. Despite not being able to understand all of the words because I had no context for them, stories still opened up a whole different world for me. I didn't know what red looked like, but that small patch of velveteen told me what it felt like. It was my first red."

"First?"

"Every red is different. Tomatoes are a juicy red, and Fuji apples are a crunchy red."

"Like the carpet at the library?"

Kuroko nodded.

"Like the carpet."

The rattling resumed as Kagami went back to taking his thoughts out on something. Kuroko loosened his hold on the tennis ball that he had been gripping without even noticing.

"I know you are struggling, but your efforts are not going to waste. Without Taiga I never would be able to hear this story you're reading."

"Th – Something like that…," Kagami said hastily.

"I'm looking forward to the next chapter, but let's take a break for today."

There was a quiet pause.

"Okay," Kagami finally said.

He helped gather up Kuroko's things back into his bag. Their hands brushed accidentally a couple of times, sending nervous spikes up in Kuroko's arm. Kagami fumbled and gave a small nervous laugh. To his surprise, Kuroko found the freshly discovered awkwardness a bit cute.


	4. Chapter 4

The little bell above the café's front door chimed, and Riko turned to welcome the new customer with a smile. Her face fell when she spotted a familiar-looking 6ft block with flaming red hair frozen in the entryway, staring at a black dog curiously sniffing at his shoes. He looked seconds away from bolting through the door or challenging the dog for a duel. With an annoyed sigh, she put her full tray down and hurried through the packed café to grab the dog's collar.

"You again? We're kinda full today, I don't think I can get you a table."

The guy's broad shoulders relaxed a little when she pulled the enthusiast dog back.

"I'm looking for Tet – uh, Kuroko."

"He's not working today."

"But he told me to meet him here after his class?"

"He probably forgot. He becomes a bit scatterbrained when he's sick."

The crazy eyebrows knitted.

"Sick? Is he okay?"

"Sounded like the flu to me."

"Is he by himself?"

"He lives alone, so yeah, I think so."

"But – "

"Excuse me, miss!"

Over the chatter of the room, someone called for a waitress, and she waved her hand at the waiting table of four.

"Look, we're really short today, so…"

"Wait!"

The guy reached for her shoulder before she could walk off dragging the dog with her.

"Could you give me his address?"

**~~oOo~~**

The whole staircase echoed when Kagami's fist pounded on the sturdy front door. When no one came to answer, he pressed his ear against the cold, hard surface, but his heart was thumping too loud for him to hear anything else than his blood rushing. Not even Kuma was barking. Dogs were supposed to bark when someone was at the door, right?

He gave a couple more punches but still heard nothing. With hurried hands, he dug out his phone and flicked through the contacts for Aomine's number. He was silently cursing what kinds of friends leave someone like Kuroko alone at a time like this.

Just when he was about to press the call button, the safety chain rattled on the other side and he came face to face with Kuroko in a worn-out T-shirt and pajama pants. The hair on top of his head was sticking out in every which way, and Kagami had to resist the urge to brush it. His already fair skin looked even paler except for the glow of his cheeks. The softness of his eyes was glassy.

"Yes?" Kuroko said, his voice a bit raspy.

"Hey, it's me."

"Taiga? What are you doing here?"

"We were supposed to meet at the café. I heard you were sick."

Realization lit Kuroko's face, and he rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"Ah, I forgot to cancel this morning. You went there for nothing, I'm sorry."

"How're ya feeling?"

"Don't worry, it's just a sore throat."

Before Kagami realized what he was doing his hand reached out to check Kuroko's forehead and compare the temperature to his own. Kuroko flinched at the sudden touch.

"Taiga – "

"Does it hurt anywhere else? Have you checked your temperature? Do you have any medicine? Have you eaten anything?"

Kuroko blinked at the rapid-fire of questions until his face softened into a little smile.

"Would you like to come in, Taiga?" he said and stepped aside.

The first thing Kagami noticed about Kuroko's apartment was that it was surprisingly dark. Not pitch-black but dim. Kagami spotted a switch next to a row of jackets in the entryway. Kuroko's head turned at the click, and he looked at Kagami's direction.

"It's a bit dark."

For a fleeting moment, Kuroko's face froze – like there had been a glitch in his system – but it melted back into the eerie softness in a blink of an eye.

"Oh. Of course."

Kagami toed off his shoes and followed Kuroko further in. Kuma lifted his head from where he was lying on a soft-looking little mattress. His thick tail started wagging against the floor as soon as Kagami appeared behind the corner. Next to Kuma's spot was Kuroko's bed. The sheets were rumbled and tossed. Next to the bed was a small nightstand loaded with an empty water glass, thermometer, pack of medicine, and a pile of tissues.

It was a simple studio apartment, and at first glance, it looked quite typical. But here and there were little things that popped up. There were two bookshelves loaded with books of various sizes and colors and an impressive collection of records. Kagami recognized little stickers of the dot-writing over the backs of them. There were no framed pictures anywhere. Instead, Kagami spotted a couple of smooth rocks, a jar of feathers, and small statues of shapes he couldn't recognize.

There were railings and bumpers and little rubber mats to keep things in place. Everything seemed really organized – there weren't clothes or stuff lying around anywhere – and yet things were slightly, weirdly askew.

"I suppose we should get to it, now that you're here."

"You should just go back to bed," Kagami said and rustled the little plastic bag that was full of supplies he had bought on his way. "I got stuff for chicken soup. Do you like it mild or spicy?"

"I don't think I can eat anything."

"Then you can just reheat it later."

"Taiga can cook?"

"I started living by myself since high school, so yeah."

"Oh. That's quite amazing."

The praise heated his cheeks as Kagami unloaded the bag. He eyed on the kitchen appliances. Most of them seemed to have some kind of gadget attached to it. Over the stove was a spice rack full of little bottles that also had dot-stickers on them. As long as he could boil water and chop things, he was good to go. The rest he could figure out on the way.

"Where do you keep your pots? Do you have a cutting board?"

Kuroko gave him directions in his fever-weak and hoarse voice, and Kagami followed his mental map of the little kitchenette. Soon, the cuts of chicken were sizzling on the pan in their fat and a pot of broth was simmering on the stove.

Kuroko listened to Kagami moving around. The scratchy swift swooshes of the peeler. The thick rough snatches and crunches of the knife cutting through the hefty vegetables and its base meeting the cutting board with a thump. The little cubes being dropped into the boiling broth in a rain of wet plops.

Kuma released a deep content sigh, and Kuroko let the sounds and smells lull him into a light doze.

He woke up to his hand knocking into something solid, and a loud crash startled him fully awake with a jolt. He rose up in the bed, disoriented and his head feeling heavy and stuffed.

"Taiga?"

"It's okay," Kagami's voice came much closer than what Kuroko had expected, and he had to gauge his surroundings again, "you knocked over the water glass on the table."

"Is it broken?"

"Yeah."

In his fevered haze, Kuroko flung his feet over the edge of the mattress. His head spun, but carefully he slid off the bed to his knees on the floor.

"Wait Kuroko, there's glass everywhere."

"I need to clean it before Kuma hurts himself."

Absentmindedly, Kuroko thought he could hardly recognize his own voice. It sounded like it came from a distance. Muffled by a wall or a door. Close by but not touchable.

"Hold on, Kuroko, I can – "

Kagami sounded far away, too. The boiling pot was too loud. The sizzle of the pan tore Kuroko's ears.

"No, I can do it myself," he said and felt his way on the floor, "I have to – before Kuma – Ah!"

Kuroko hissed and recoiled when something sharp bit his hand. He cradled the hand protectively against his chest.

"Kuroko!" Kagami's voice was suddenly next to him, and his hand heavy on Kuroko's shoulder.

"Taiga?"

"Don't move, there are shards everywhere."

"But Kuma – "

"He's fine." The hand gave Kuroko's shoulder a little squeeze. "I'll clean this up. You just stay put, okay?"

Kuroko gave a little nod. The sharp pain in his hand was turning into a throbbing and something wet was running down his palm.

The shards chinked loudly when Kagami carefully tossed them into the bin he had found under the sink. Kuroko sat leaning heavily against the edge of the mattress, pressing a towel Kagami had given him against his hand. As strictly instructed, he was keeping the hand elevated above his head.

After sweeping the floor with a damp rag in case of splinters, Kagami kneeled next to Kuroko with a small first-aid kit he had found following the mental map Kuroko had in his head. Gently he took a hold of the thin wrist and unwrapped the towel. Kuroko just sat there limp and tired and let Kagami maneuver himself.

"Are you dizzy?"

"Hng."

"Do you feel sick?"

"Hng."

"Give me a minute and we'll get you back to bed."

"Hng."

Carefully Kagami cleaned the cut with wet wipes. Some blood was still oozing out of the cut but most of it had already dried up. In the contrast of Kuroko's fair skin, it was a gruesome sight but not as bad as Kagami had feared. He peered closer to see how deep it went and if the edges were neat enough for the wound to close by itself. Kuroko winced when he propped and stretched the skin.

"I don't think you'll need stitches."

The cut was in a tricky place for dressing, and Kagami had to wrap Kuroko's whole hand with the gauze.

"There, all done," he said and stuck the last piece of tape to keep the package together.

"Blood is red," Kuroko mumbled. "Like the carpet."

In the middle of tossing the blood-stained wet wipes in the trash, Kagami cast a worried glance at him.

"Yeah," he said, a bit unsure. "Like tomatoes and Fuji apples."

Hesitantly Kuroko felt the wavy surface of the thin fabric stretching over the back of his hand.

"This red…it hurts."

"I know. C'mon, let's get you to lie down."

He grabbed Kuroko firmly by his skinny elbow and hoisted him up. Leaning almost limp against him, Kuroko was heavier than Kagami had imagined. He could feel the heat of his skin even through the clothes.

Buried deep under the blankets, he was truly a miserable sight; sick, pale and in pain. The glassy eyes were red-rimmed and dull.

"Want some water?"

Kuroko gave a weak nod. Fortunately, there was bottled water stocked in the fridge. With some help, Kuroko sat up, and the plastic bottle rattled and crackled as he drank the coldness in deep, thirsty gulps.

"I better check up on the soup," Kagami said, and the mattress dipped as he pushed himself on his feet.

"Taiga."

Kuroko's hand was reaching blindly over the edge of the mattress.

"What is it?"

"Would you read to me?"

"Read what?"

"Your book. I want to know how the story continues."

"We can take a day off. Just catch some sleep, and I'll wake you up when the food's ready."

"Please? I want to listen to Taiga's voice."

Kagami ran his hand through his hair and let out a sigh. He was worried about Kuroko but couldn't deny this needy side of him was cute.

"Fine. But you're eating the soup when it's done."

Kuroko gave a weak, tired smile from between the blankets.

"Deal."

The full pot of chicken soup was left to come together - as Kagami said it - on low heat. In the meantime, he dug the book they had been supposed to work on out of his bag and slumped down on the floor, leaning against the bed frame.

Over the past week or so, they had made more progress on the assignment than Kagami could have ever imagined. Kuroko had made him read out loud a lot – to Kuma at first. As weird as it had been the first couple of times, reading to the dog had relaxed him.

He still wasn't a good reader. He was still frustratingly slow and messed up a lot of the words. But he could feel the tense reluctance melting away faster and faster each session after getting started. After each session, Kuroko had a habit of prompting conversations by asking questions about what Kagami had just read.

Before long they had made it to the second to last chapter.

The creases of the binding crinkled as Kagami opened the book where they had left off. The laminated bookmark Kuroko had given him from his own private collection slid down from between the pages to his lap. Never had he thought he would own a bookmark in his life.

He flinched when Kuroko's warm hand suddenly touched the back of his neck gently.

"Is this okay?" Kuroko asked.

"Yeah."

The fingers curled to feel the soft hair at the nape and rest there comfortably.

"Thank you, Taiga. For everything."

"Yeah, uh," Kagami cleared his throat. "Chapter eight…"

**~~oOo~~**

About a week later Kagami stood hesitant at the threshold of the small multipurpose back room of Beans & Paws. He cast suspicious glances at the stark walls, white desks and chairs, and the flip chart in one end of the room. His shoulders drew tighter and fingers tugged the strap of his bag restlessly.

"Are you sure we can't go to your place?" he said, reluctance creeping into his voice.

Kuroko dropped his messenger bag on the floor at his feet and unbuttoned the big wooden buttons of his blue wool jacket. He had released his hold on Kuma's leash, and the dog had headed to lie down in an empty corner as if on routine.

"What's wrong with this room?"

Kagami didn't reply, just slumped into one of the chairs.

It was time for their last reading session. The spring weather had warmed up enough to attract more and more players to the basketball court where they usually held their little book club of two, and they had found themselves needing a new meeting spot. Kagami had suggested they read at Kuroko's place, but for some reason Kuroko had been embarrassingly uncomfortable with the idea of having Kagami over after his first visit. Instead, he had asked Riko if they could borrow the backroom of the café.

He sat next to Kagami at the table and listened as he rummaged through his bag for the book and let the pages run perfunctorily until he found where they had left off the previous time. Kuroko frowned at the frustrated edge and sharpness of Kagami's movements.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Doesn't sound like nothing."

The chair creaked when Kagami shifted his weight. Kuroko could feel the rhythmic vibration of his knee bouncing restlessly under the desk.

"It's just…I don't like sitting down like this."

"You mean in a chair?"

"Well yeah, and…like I'm in a school or something."

"Oh?"

Kuroko gave a little frown and conjured his mental map of the room.

"I guess we could…"

Kagami watched as he got up and felt around his way to the corner where Kuma was lying down. The dog lifted his head curiously as Kuroko slid carefully down the wall and sat next to him on the linoleum floor. Kuma gave Kuroko a couple of sniffs and poked his forearm with his muzzle sharply to get a few scratches now that Kuroko was at a snout's reach. Kuroko buried his fingers in the thick furr.

"Just because there's a chair in the room doesn't mean you have to sit in it," he said and patted the empty spot next to him.

Kagami was quiet for a moment before following him to the corner and sitting on the floor, on Kuroko's other side. Huddled together, their shoulders brushing occasionally, they sat and Kagami began to read. A bit fumbling and flat at first – like always – but growing stronger and more enthusiastic as he got into the story once again. Kuroko leaned his head against the hard wall, closed his eyes, and kept scratching Kuma absentmindedly.

At last, Kagami turned the last page and began the last paragraph. The last sentence. The last words slipped between his lips with a pondering finality, and silence fell between them. For a while, he just stared at the last page before closing the book and smoothing his palm over the back cover. A strange emptiness was pouring into him, and his posture slumped a little.

"The end?" Kuroko asked.

"Hmm."

"How did you like the book?"

"It was – " Kagami started but paused for a moment. "I don't know."

He kept fiddling with the book until finally settled to stare at its cover, the picture of the two basketball players and the title in big black letters.

When the Game Was Ours.

"My topic for the paper is stupid. It's probably not what it should be."

"I think your topic is original."

Kagami scoffed.

"Which is another word for stupid."

"No, it's another word for interesting."

From the beginning Kuroko had told Kagami that they could talk about the paper but Kagami would do the writing by himself. Kuroko had made it crystal clear he wouldn't be writing a single word of it for Kagami. All the ideas and notions would have to come from Kagami and Kagami alone.

There was no point in trying to cheat, Kuroko had pointed out. Professor Matsumoto would notice if the text wasn't from Kagami's pen, and what would have been the point of this whole exercise if it were his and not Kagami's thoughts on the paper. But if he ran into trouble having to do with the language or found himself in a dead-end, Kuroko would help by nudging him in the right direction.

"Oh, I got you something," Kuroko said as if something had just popped into his mind.

He fumbled for his jacket draped over a chair close to them and dug through one of its pockets. He fished out a small green cardboard box about the size of his palm.

"Here," he said and held it out to Kagami.

Kagami accepted the box and recognized the familiar red-and-white logo.

"KitKats?"

"Wasabi-flavored. For good luck."

The connection between KitKats and good luck was a bit unclear to Kagami, but he wasn't about to turn down free snacks.

"Thanks. I guess."

"I wrote you a little message in the back."

Kagami turned the box around. Crammed next to the required list of ingredients and other such information one finds in packages, there was a small white box with a title "Message" written above it. The appointed area for the message of this box was covered with white little stickers of Braille. Kagami remembered seeing similar stickers in Kuroko's spice racket and record collection.

"I needed a little help from Aomine-kun with the letters. It's difficult to keep the lines straight."

Kagami peered at the little bumps. He could recognize some of the letters but not most of them.

"What does it say?"

"It's a secret. You have to find out."

Kuroko cast his eyes down, and Kagami was taken aback by the little blush that crept to tint his fair cheeks. The color reminded him of soft, chubby strawberry marshmallows. Or fluffy tufts of pink cotton candy held up against a clear blue summer sky. The cherry blossom petals fluttering in the breeze and falling on Kuroko's hair.

"Soft red," he muttered without even realizing he was talking.

"What?"

"Uh, nothing," Kagami said and hurried to clear his throat. "Thanks. For the snacks."

An awkward silence fell between them. The book was finished, but Kagami didn't feel like getting up and going home. He didn't want to leave this comfortable spot next to Kuroko. The warmth radiating from where their shoulders touched. His eyes landed on Kuroko's hand hanging over his knee. He wondered if the cut had healed fully by now. There probably was a small scab there, disrupting and breaking the smoothness of the skin.

Before he realized what he was doing – or before he could stop himself – Kagami touched the back of Kuroko's hand. Laid his palm on top of it awkwardly, clumsily, sweatly. Kuroko flinched ever so slightly next to him and turned his head a little towards Kagami.

"Taiga?"

"I liked the book," Kagami blurted, and his fingers curled around Kuroko's hand. "I really liked it."

For a while, Kuroko stayed silent with an unreadable expression. Well, his expressions were always unreadable. But every passing second in silence made the bottom of Kagami's stomach heavier and heavier.

Oh god, had he messed up?

He was just about to pull his hand back and ran different excuses through his head when Kuroko's wrist twisted and his slightly cool fingers returned Kagami's hold. He had turned his face away, but Kagami could see the edges of pink coloring his cheeks.

"I liked it, too."


	5. Chapter 5

Kagami sat stiffly on the little stool, awkwardly holding his big bag in his lap. His eyes darted restlessly around the small office unable to settle their gaze anywhere comfortably. Especially on the man sitting at his desk in front of him.

Professor Matsumoto's tall and thin figure leaned back in his office chair, its back bending under his weight. His right ankle was resting on top of his left knee, and his hands were behind his head. The sharpness of his elbows stood out by the way the sleeves of his white shirt were rolled up revealing the muscular forearms. His dark eyes – set deep into his face, under bushy eyebrows – looked at Kagami trying not to squirm on his seat.

"I read your paper," he said and nodded towards his desk where Kagami's assignment lied in the middle of various stacks of papers. "It was an interesting read."

Kagami didn't answer.

He was trying not to shrink away and cower – a guy of his size shouldn't be intimidated so easily – but couldn't quite help it. Many would have called Matsumoto's little box of an office cozy but Kagami had always found it suffocating. Stuffy. Three massive bookshelves were looming over them opposite to Matsumoto's desk and where they sat. He felt like a clumsy giant trying to fold his long legs naturally while sitting on the too-small chair.

The already small room was shrunken down even more by the most intimidating presence: Matsumoto himself and the way he calmly and silently weighed up Kagami with his piercing eyes. Kagami had a good five inches and over 30 pounds on the man, but no one managed to make him feel small in a similar way as Matsumoto. The man might look like a monkey with his large upper-lip, high forehead, and big ears but his cool and confident demeanor demanded respect.

"I heard Kuroko helped you out."

"A little," Kagami said and wouldn't meet the professor's eyes. Then – a bit miffed – he straightened up and lifted his head. "But I read the book myself. Every word of it. And I wrote the paper myself."

The corners of Matsumoto's thin lips twitched a little.

"I believe you. Kuroko would never let you cheat off him like that."

"What's the problem, then? Why did you tell me to come to see you?"

Matsumoto leaned further back in his chair, his eyes finally easing off their hold on Kagami.

"He's an interesting guy. That Kuroko."

Kagami frowned a little.

"Yeah. I guess."

"A good student, for sure," Matsumoto went on, sounding like he was talking more to himself than Kagami. "But also has lots of interesting ideas. He doesn't have the same expression of a bored sheep like most of the students roaming this university or dozing off in my lectures. Unlike others, he's not content with just following the herd."

Kagami wondered what kind of a sheep he was in Matsumoto's eyes.

"But," the professor's tone perked and he suddenly fixed his relaxed posture, "if he can manage to successfully make you do something I have failed for a semester after another, I can only admit defeat. And perhaps take a page from his book in the future."

He picked up the graded paper and held it out in front of Kagami. There were a few scribbles on the pages in the marginals, but Kagami's darting eyes couldn't find a big red F anywhere.

"Don't worry, you passed. I gave you a C."

"Huh?"

Kagami's mouth fell open. Dumbfounded, he accepted the paper. With slightly unsteady hands, he turned to the last page, and there it was: big red C, hastily circulated and accompanied with a couple lines of handwritten notes.

"You let me pass?"

"I didn't let you pass. You passed on your own merit."

"Does this mean I can go back to playing basketball again?"

"Yes. Your GPA is back where it should be. Your scholarship is intact."

Sweet relief washed over Kagami. The tension that had been building in his neck and back melted away. Warily he glanced at Matsumoto who had gone back to observing him.

"Can I go now?"

"Sure. But read the notes I left for you."

Hurriedly Kagami scrambled to his feet, still hugging his bag against his chest and squeezing the papers in his fingers. He was almost out the door when Matsumoto called his name. Hesitantly, Kagami halted and turned to look at him while standing awkwardly in the doorway.

"You know, Kagami, I don't – " he started but trailed off and rubbed his chin, looking pensive. "I don't enjoy giving failing grades to anyone. I actually dislike it quite a bit. But I will do it if I have to, and in your case, you haven't really given me an option until now."

Kagami remained silent. He could feel the refreshing breeze of freedom from the long hallway where the teachers' offices were lined up. A muffled chatter of the nearby cafeteria just around the corner carried to his ears.

"But I'm proud of you for proving me you do have it in you, Kagami. I was happy I could reward your effort."

He gave Kagami a little nod. All Kagami managed was to mutely return it before leaving, not really understanding why. He hadn't expected to be praised. The heavy door clunked shut behind his back just in time so he could hide the stupid but happy involuntary smile spreading across his face.

**~~oOo~~**

The doorbell shrilled, and Kagami glanced at the clock surprised. It was still early.

"Damn it," he muttered under his breath.

Hurriedly he wiped his hands – wet from slicing tomatoes – on his apron before untying it and tossing it on the backrest of the couch. He cast the apartment a quick critical scan. It was relatively clean and in order. He had still been in the middle of tidying up but supposed a couple of used clothes and magazines scattered here and there wouldn't be too discriminating.

The doorbell rang again. Twice.

"Coming!" Kagami hollered.

On his way to the door, he took a quick look at himself in the hallway mirror and brushed his hair only to have it settle back in the unruly mess it usually was. Whatever, it's not like it would matter anyway.

"Hey, Kuroko, sorry I was – " Kagami's voice trailed off and his face fell when saw the people waiting behind the door.

The butterflies fluttering in his stomach just a moment ago were swiftly smashed dead by rolling disappointment.

"Good evening, Taiga," Kuroko said. "I'm sorry we're a bit early."

"Yo," Aomine said and raised his hand in a lazy greeting. "What took you so long?"

Kagami frowned and glared at him.

"What are you doing here?"

"We came to celebrate. Tetsu-kun told us," Momoi said with a smile, holding onto Aomine's arm. "Congratulations on passing!"

"Yeah, thanks," Kagami said. "I wasn't really expecting…you guys, too."

"They are my plus-ones," Kuroko said.

"Your what?"

"Plus-ones. You said I could my bring my plus-one, too. Although, I suppose they are my plus-twos. But they come as a set."

Kagami's facial muscles worked hard to school his expression. Indeed, he had told Kuroko that. But by plus-one, he had meant Kuma, not third wheels of the two-legged kind. Especially Aomine.

"Oi, what's the holdup?" Aomine said and shouldered his way between Kuroko and Momoi.

He pushed past Kagami into the house and toed off his shoes, leaving them lying every which way in the entryway. Before Kagami could stop him, he had tossed his jacket on the couch and reached the kitchen.

"Oh sweet, you're making pizza. I'm starving."

"Hey, don't just – "

Kagami shifted in the entryway. Unable to decide should he stop Aomine from getting any more comfortable or try and sort out the misunderstanding by nipping in the bud.

Momoi decided for him.

"We brought you a little something," she said and gave the tote bag hanging off her shoulder a little shake. Kagami heard two bottles of something clinking together. "And don't worry about Dai-chan."

She gave Kagami a sly wink and brushed past him. Before getting further in, she arranged Aomine's shoes neatly right next to hers. He could hear her telling Aomine to leave Kagami's things alone and not to touch the food yet.

Kagami released a deep sigh.

"Taiga?" Kuroko said, still standing in the doorway and holding onto Kuma's leash. "Is something the matter? Should have I not invited them?"

"No, no, it's fine," Kagami hurried to say. "The more the merrier. Come on, come inside."

He helped to put Kuroko's bag and jacket away and stood there awkwardly. Now what? How did this work? Did Kuroko use Kuma inside the house, too? Or was it enough if Kagami just told him where everything was?

Kagami's bold plan had been to lead Kuroko into the house by hand, and in his mind, it had been such a perfect two-birds-with-one-stone solution that further consideration hadn't been needed. But he supposed that had been shot to all hell now. There was no way he would do something as sappy as that while Aomine was in the house. He would never let Kagami live it down.

Again, the dilemma was solved for him.

"Is it okay if Kuma is free?"

"Yeah, it should be fine."

Kagami didn't mention the blanket he had folded in the living room in hopes the dog would indulge in naps as much as possible that night. Which only reminded him of another thing he would have to hide from Aomine's peering eyes.

Kuroko took the harness off Kuma, and the dog gave a satisfying-looking shake, its massive fur wiggling and the metal of its collar jiggling quietly. Stripping the harness seemed to be some kind of a signal, and Kuma walked off, its chunky nails scraping the floor, without a specific command. Soon, Kagami heard Aomine coo over the dog – something he never thought he would hear out of Aomine's mouth.

"I bought some extra sausage. Kuma worked hard, so he should celebrate, too."

Kuroko dug something out of his bag, and with a simple flick of his wrist, it unfolded with a crackle. A long white stick with a ball in the end snapped in place at its joints.

"I appreciate your thought, but you can't feed human food to a guide dog."

"Oh."

Kagami's cheeks tinted. So far, the night he had planned for them was going horribly awry, and Kagami cursed his stupid enthusiasm. It all felt ridiculous now.

"So?" Kuroko said, holding the white stick in front of him. It reached him all the way to his chest. "Where is this celebration you talked about? I heard Aomine-kun said something about pizza."

A little hint of a smile played on Kuroko's lips, and he looked at Kagami's direction expectantly. Kagami's disappointment gave away a little. Perhaps it wouldn't be so bad.

"This way."

In the kitchen Momoi had enlisted Aomine as the official slicer of the tomatoes, mushrooms, sausages, peppers, and olives. Every once in a while, little snacks disappeared in Aomine's mouth. She was giving him sharp instructions over her shoulder while mixing the tomato sauce on the stove. After adding salt in the pot and giving it a good stir or two, she let Aomine sample the sauce off the wooden spoon.

"You think it needs more?" she said and monitored Aomine's face while he tasted.

"Nah. But – "

She gave a little surprised sound when Aomine scooped around her waist, pulling her closer, and their lips met in a kiss. Almost automatically, she tilted her head in a better position when the tip of Aomine's tongue brushed her lips. He tasted like homemade tomato sauce.

" – it could use some more kick," Aomine said after pulling back.

"You two," Kagami growled, "try to keep it PG."

Momoi had the decency to blush a little, and she hurriedly turned to viciously stir the saucepot again while licking her lips. Aomine flashed Kagami a shit-eating grin and tossed an olive into his mouth.

"And don't eat everything, you bastard!"

"Is there anything I can do?" Kuroko asked next to him.

"Why don't you roll out the dough," Momoi suggested, "with Kagami? The toppings are almost done, and I put the oven on preheat."

They set out a dough rolling station in one end of the kitchen isle that became the starting point of their little assembly line. The conversation flew easy. Kuroko told Aomine about the basketball book they had found with Kagami for the paper. Despite not knowing much about the sport, he had the skill of still discussing about it. Soon the book had sparked a lively conversation about what was going on in the school team.

Aomine told Kagami he should be on the brink of flunking out more often. While Kagami was hitting books, Aomine could rightfully be the undeniable ace. And after Kagami passed, they could celebrate and feed Aomine. It was a win-win. Kagami flung a fistful of flour at his face, and Aomine almost coughed up a lung. Kagami offered to pat him on the back to help out, and Aomine – his eyes watering from hacking – threw him with an olive square in his forehead.

Before the teasing escalated into a full-blown food war, Momoi stepped in. She waved the sauce-dripping spoon at Kagami and Aomine warningly and told the oven was ready for the first pizzas. As Aomine and Momoi absorbed in arguing what toppings should go on their shared pizza (her idea), Kagami seized his opportunity and tugged on Kuroko's hand.

"Follow me," he said quietly to his ear.

After a moment of hesitation, Kuroko's fingers curled around Kagami's hand, returning the squeeze. Quietly they sneaked their way across the living room and down the hallway to where Kagami's room was. A bit panicked at the doorway, Kagami tried to remember if he had buried the dirty clothes out of sight before realizing it wouldn't really matter.

He closed the door quietly behind them. Kuroko stood in the middle of the room. Kagami realized he had pulled Kuroko with him in such haste, he had left the white stick in the kitchen.

"Taiga?" Kuroko said, confusion in his voice. "What is it?"

Yeah, you idiot, Kagami said to himself. What's the plan?

"Ah, I just – uh, wanted to show you my room."

Kuroko's eyebrows arched, and his eerily soft yet beautiful eyes kept staring at the same spot on the wall.

"I'm sure it's very nice."

Kagami wanted the floor to tear open and swallow him whole. Then his eyes landed on the yellow book on the nightstand. Trying to come up with an excuse on the go, he picked it up and shoved it to Kuroko. Taken aback, he weighted the object in his hands.

"What's this?"

"It's the book. I'm giving it back to you."

"Why?"

"It's yours. You got it from the library."

"I got this for you," Kuroko said with a little frown. "I want you to have it."

"Well, yeah, but…It's not like I'm gonna do anything with it anymore. The bookmark, too. It's between there somewhere."

Kuroko blinked at him a couple of times before giving a little sigh. His empty hand reached out, and he took a tentative step towards Kagami. Kagami stood frozen and just watched Kuroko slowly and carefully closing the couple of feet that separated them. The outreached hand bumped against Kagami's shoulder and awkwardly cupped it. Heat seeped from the touch through Kagami's shirt and spread, tingling.

"I never quite realized how tall you are."

"Yeah," Kagami said, a lot huskier than he had meant.

He looked down at Kuroko standing right in front of him. He could smell the faint smell of shampoo wafting from Kuroko's hair. Some of the wisps had traces of white flour that Kagami hadn't noticed before.

"Taiga," Kuroko said, almost matching Kagami's low voice, and raised the book a little. "Could you tell me what color this is?"

"It's – uh, yellow. Mostly yellow."

The softness of Kuroko's eyes deepened a lot like when he had asked about the library's carpet.

"I see. No wonder it sounded so much like a yellow story."

He felt around a bit – his hands sliding from Kagami's shoulder until they reached their destination – and pressed the book gently but firmly against Kagami's chest.

"I know many yellow things in the world, but it seems this has become my favorite. By far. I want you to have it."

"But – "

"For safekeeping. Put it somewhere you keep your most precious things. In case I want to hear this story again."

Kagami's heart pounded under the book so hard he wondered if Kuroko could feel the beats. Did he feel Kagami's nervous puffs of breathing on his face when he gently tiled it up, his hands strangely large and clumsy? Did he hear Kagami gulp when he leaned in and closed the last inches between them?

Just as their lips were about to touch, Kagami closed his eyes. In their first kiss, they were both blind to the world around them.

Kuroko's mouth was just as soft as Kagami had always imagined. It was the down of a feather near its hollow shaft. Big blanket-sized flakes of snow flowing down from above in the winter. The fluff of the velveteen rabbit.

It was the pure and clear blue spring sky that was almost too bright to look at.

When Kagami pulled back, he noticed Kuroko's eyes were closed as well. His lips twitched, rolled in between his teeth, and Kagami saw a glimpse of the pink tongue sweeping where they had made contact.

"Hmm," Kuroko said. "I don't think I have ever seen this color before."

Kagami's big thumb brushed the softness of Kuroko's cheek, and almost instinctively it leaned tighter against his palm.

"I promise to show you all of them."

A ghost of a smile.

"I'm looking forward to it."

**The End.**


End file.
